The Strong Entrepreneur: How to Deal with a Negative Person

The Strong Entrepreneur: How to Deal with a Negative Person

Negativity happens.

Negativity happens. It’s a part of life.

There will always be haters, gossips, wet blankets, and cynics. The trick is to find a way to manage their negativity and channel it productively. Herein, is a key aspect of the entrepreneurial skill set.

Your ability to boost morale and turn your will into forward-moving action to neutralize negativity is vital to your enterprise.

To do so you need a plan.

The following is a map for transforming negativity into productivity.

Be The Person People Rally Around

Leaders are standard bearers. They are the ones carrying the flag for the rest of the team to rally around. And that means they need to be on the frontlines encouraging those nearby.

What do we mean?

As an entrepreneur with a team you set the tone. If you want a constructive workplace, then embody the attributes of a constructive worker. Because your are the conductor of your business’ culture: ensuring that no sour notes derail the symphony.

This also means knowing when and how to express your frustrations. This doesn’t mean hiding your emotions from the rest of your employees.

What it does mean is taking a step back from whatever roadblock is stopping you and facing it rationally. See problems as lessons. And take those experiences and share them in a productive manner with your team.

Channel Your Experiences

The strong entrepreneur understands how to interpret problems. It’s not as if you need to be a constant beaming light of positivity. The workplace is not some fairytale land.

What it does mean is that you can’t tunnel vision on problems, or elevate issues to the level of an existential crisis.

You should also encourage team members—and yourself—to confront problems as experiences. We learn more from failure than success. That doesn’t mean you should strive for failure, but that failure isn’t the end of your company, or the world.

An employees continued missteps, or constant cynicism, is akin to a parasite on your company. They drain all of the energy and drive of the people around them.

You need to know when it’s time to cut the cord and do so before the issue grows beyond your control. Otherwise, you end up questioning your own abilities. Or, your commitment to your vision.

People learn about themselves from others. Make sure the others your surround yourselves with are pushing you towards your goal.

And remember, morale is an essential aspect of leadership. You must know how to rally your employees morale or you’ll face a mutiny.

Make Clear that Negativity is Not Absolution

The truly negative person never takes responsibility for themselves. They blame everything external. Instead of recognizing any personal failings.

This is not a person who wants to grow. Or, someone who believes in themselves.

It’s fair to say we all have moments of self-doubt and inadequacy. But persistent self-irresponsibility has to be confronted.

Otherwise, negativity becomes an excuse to give up before you even try.

In the entrepreneurial world there is little room for excuses. Excuses don’t get work done. They’re a crutch. People make mistakes, they have issues, they face dilemmas, but the healthy worker is one who pushes themselves to excel the next time, even if they’ve failed this time.

Separate the Truly Subversive from the Occupationally Stalled

It’s important to develop your vision so that you can separate people who are truly subversive from those who are occupationally stalled.

Always be cautious that you’re not jumping to judgment too quickly.

Because people who are occupationally stalled are perfect candidates for your encouragement. Engage them and help them become better at what they do, and who they are.

Here are a few tips for helping those who have hit a rut:

Acknowledge their frustrations.

Brainstorm possible solutions.

Appreciate their investment and initiative.

Implement what works.

Check in and follow up routinely.

A Negative Person is a Test You Can and Must Pass

Have a plan in place for the inevitability of negativity.

It doesn’t have to infect you or your progress if you prepare well and move to protect your dreams and goals immediately.